With a colony started by convicts what can you expect but that Australia should have a colourful history of crime? From the forgers and blackmailers who became our earliest writers and architects, to con artists who used the ocean as a barrier to detection, to the thefts and assaults of the goldfields, and on to false identities, swindles, hoaxes, and robberies, the story of Australia is a story of rogues and scoundrels. Yes, there are heroic coppers, but there are plenty of badge-wearing police who are just as criminal as the ones they arrested.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face
  
  

COURSE OUTLINE

Con artists:

• Aristocratic: The Tichborne Claimant, Viscount Lascalles
• Feminine: Mrs Livesey, Madame Caligari

Frauds

• Hoaxes: Lasseter’s Reef, Louis Rougemont
• Swindles: Fine Cotton, Laurence Hynes Halloran
• Forgers: Henry Savery, Francis Greenway
• Blackmail: James Tucker, Fergus Hume
• Art: Easey Street
• Literature: Ern Malley, Helen Demidenko

Thefts

• Pickpockets: George Barrington, Ikey Solomon
• Banks: Great Bank Robbery, The Postcard Bandit
• Ships: Avoca robbery

Corrupt

• Police forces: Night watch, Water police
• Police chiefs: Wilson, Mackay
• Superintendents: Cockatoo Island and Darlinghurst Gaol

Crime solvers

• Native Police (‘Black Trackers’)
• Lillian May Armfield
• Frank Fahy (The Shadow)
  
  

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Describe some colourful crimes from Australia’s history.
2. Outline some patterns of criminal behaviour from various eras.
3. Outline the history of policing in New South Wales.
4. Discuss some characteristics of con artist behaviour.